Brewer Planning Supreme Court Appeal Over AZ Immigration Law

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) announced Monday that she will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a preliminary injunction against the state's controversial immigration law.

In April, a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld a lower court's decision to block key parts of the law until the Department of Justice's lawsuit against it is decided.

Brewer, along with Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, said Monday that because the matter is of some urgency, they would bypass a ruling by the full Ninth Circuit and head straight for the Supreme Court.

"The decision of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the suspension of key provisions of Senate Bill 1070 does harm to the safety and well-being of all Arizonans, who suffer the negative effects of illegal immigration," Brewer said, according to the Arizona Republic. "So instead of appealing to the larger, en banc panel of the 9th Circuit Court, my legal team will soon file an immediate petition with the (United States) Supreme Court to lift the injunction of Senate Bill 1070."

"The American people have clearly sided with Arizona on the righteousness of Senate Bill 1070," Brewer added.

Last July, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against SB 1070, which was signed by Brewer in April of 2010. The DOJ argues that the law violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.

One provision of the law would require law enforcement to detain anyone who they had a "reasonable suspicion" of being in the country illegally, which opponents saw as an invitation for racial profiling. District Judge Susan Bolton blocked this provision, and others, in July until the DOJ's case is settled. "Preserving the status quo through a preliminary injunction is less harmful than allowing state laws that are likely pre-empted by federal law to be enforced," she wrote.